1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to electronic design automation (EDA). More specifically, this disclosure relates to creating and using a circuit abstraction.
2. Related Art
Advances in process technology and an almost unlimited appetite for consumer electronics have fueled a rapid increase in the size and complexity of integrated circuit (IC) designs. The performance of EDA tools is very important because it reduces the time to market for IC designs. Floorplanning and circuit optimization, which are important stages in an EDA design flow, involve creating a circuit design that meets a set of timing constraints, and at the same time optimizes one or more metrics, such as area, leakage power, etc.
Unfortunately, due to the rapid increase in the size and complexity of IC designs, and the stringent timing, area, and power budgets that are imposed on the IC designs, conventional floorplanning and circuit optimization tools often take a very long time to complete and/or produce poor quality results.